Pterosaurs and Bats Have Always Been Pterosaurs and Bats!

“For use in understanding the evolution of vertebrate flight, the early record of pterosaurs and bats is disappointing: Their most primitive representatives are fully transformed as capable fliers.”1

The photographs below show that bats have always been bats.

Artist’s impression of a living horseshoe bat (courtesy
Steve Cardno).

Palaeochiropteryx tupaiodon—one of the “oldest” (by evolutionary reckoning) fossil bats. It was found in the Messel oil shale pit near Darmstadt, Germany, and is “dated” between 48 and 54 million years old. It clearly had fully developed wings, and its inner ear had the same construction as those of modern bats, showing that it had full sonar equipment (photo courtesy Dr. Joachim Scheven).

Footnotes

Sereno, Paul C., The evolution of dinosaurs, Science284(5423):2137–2147 (quote on p. 2143), June 25, 1999. Sereno goes on to claim that birds evolved from dinosaurs.

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Answers in Genesis is an apologetics ministry, dedicated to helping Christians defend their faith and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ effectively. We focus on providing answers to questions about the Bible—particularly the book of Genesis—regarding key issues such as creation, evolution, science, and the age of the earth.